RealPlayer

12.0.1 (Build 1750) (OS X) 11.0.2.1744 (Linux ) 1.6.1 ( Palm OS)

RealPlayer [ ɹi ː əl ˌ pleɪɚ ] is a media player company RealNetworks, a computer program for playing video and audio files. Earlier versions of the RealPlayer were also called RealOne Player or Real Audio Player.

History

The first version of RealPlayer was released in 1995. Often you can still find the mention of RealJukebox, a pure music management program ( play music tracks and provided with meta- information, transfer titles to portable devices, CDs, rip and burn ). This went to version 2 in RealOne Player on ( hence the name).

Later important components have been outsourced from the RealPlayer for Unix / Linux systems and resulted in a new development name Helix Player which was provided by Real under an open source license and was used for subsequent RealPlayer versions from version 9.x.

Version 11 the first time enabled the storage and cutting of live stream video files (Video on Demand ), a long legal discussion was preceded by. The provider can disable this function in the program, which also affects temporarily stored content. RealPlayer 11 can save Flash movies ( flv ), and play.

Great importance was the RealPlayer particularly in the video streaming area. Real played here a technical leading role, and for many years provided the real format for streaming video content on the World Wide Web a quasi-standard dar. particularly the availability for a lot of operating systems was a huge advantage over the main competitors QuickTime and Windows Media. In the off-line audio and video formats, however, the real versions played only a subordinate role.

Since the Flash Player plugin together with associated controls and video streaming, but this has become the biggest competitor for the Real format. Its advantage is the enormous spread among Internet users ( Flash content are for years widely used on the Internet), Flash also offers the possibility of interaction. So lately, many Internet sites converted to real flash streaming ( for example, the Shipment History of c't Heise Online TV, video posts on Spiegel Online or the preview function from amazon.com ). These are based almost all relevant video portals such as YouTube today on the flash and not the real format. High quality streaming broadcasts often take place on the basis of the industry - standard H.264, which is used by QuickTime ( since version 7).

Functions

RealPlayer allows, besides playing the RealMedia RealAudio and RealVideo also playback MP3, MPEG -4 and Quick Time, as well as numerous other media formats.

In addition to Outpatient RealPlayer dominated as the only media player largely a presentation of SMIL. A proprietary format with the extension. Rp is available.

It is available for the operating systems Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Symbian OS and Android.

In the version for Mac OS X a separate converter is included, audio and video files of various formats can be converted to MP3 and MP4 with the order to play them on a range of mobile devices. After the conversion, the automatic import in iTunes will be offered. In this case, only the audio signal may be extracted from a video.

Installation and Operation

The basic version of the software is available for free. In the paid version, called RealPlayer Plus, there are also more options for burning CD blanks, the possibility of analogue recording from external audio sources, a graphic equalizer and a " toolbar mode".

Criticism

Older versions were criticized for that they should have included adware and spyware. In 1999, the security researcher Richard M. Smith analyzed the network traffic RealJukebox and found out that it sent a unique ID and information about hearing which songs the user. With a published later patch from RealNetworks the spyware has been removed.

The consumer protection organization StopBadware.org classified 2009 versions 10.5 and 11.0 early revisions for Windows as badware, and advised against their use. The grounds of which the veiled installing adware and unquestioned establishment of additional software, which could not be removed by uninstalling the Real Player. Current versions are not affected by the problem.